The only hint I have that a gig may have occurred here on this date was a list of ticket stubs on ebay - there was no image to see, but the text description said: "BOC Jan 7,1982 Hartford CC"...

Does anybody know if this took place or not? I have to admit, a single lone gig in January in the midst of a four-month period off the road (after such a large tour with Foghat during the latter part of 1981) doesn't seem terribly likely...

What happened in February? If you know, please let me ...

What happened in March? If you know, please let me ...

Thanks to Alessandro Borri, I now know the scope of the original projected "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" tour with Molly Hatchet.

Alessandro found the info on the afka.net Zappa site - it's a listing from the 15 April 1982 issue of "Musiker Music News" (issue 7):

I also found the same tour listing in the 12 Apr 1982 edition of the "European Stars And Stripes".

However, it soon became clear that at least some of these dates had been cancelled...

I don't THINK that 19th show (Munich) actually happened... I remember starting that swing in Stuttgart...

I think we did those three shows (Stuttgart/Nuremburg/Russelheim) and went home... counting our DM on the plane....

However, I then received information that the entire tour had been cancelled:

I had tickets to the Russelsheim show, which was cancelled. I remember clearly the article in the Stars and Stripes, it was 3 or 4 days before my show, that announced that the entire tour was cancelled due to a health issue with a member of Hatchet.

It explained how to get a refund on purchased tickets, and had some type of comment about hoping to reschedule soon. Unfortunately for me not soon enough as I was back in the States by the time BOC came back. (Moved back early summer of 83).

I wonder if those old Stars and Stripes are microfilmed anywhere....?

I hated Hatchet for years and cursed loudly any time Flirting with Disaster came on the radio.

This was interesting - and was certainly at odds with Sam's recollections of the tour. My working rule of thumb is that Sam is never wrong, and that's always proved to be a good guide but I'm beginning to think that with this tour he might have been mixing it up with a later one, because I've now had indications that out of the three gigs he mentioned that he thinks were performed, two of those were definitely cancelled.

I also checked out the Stars and Stripes lead Rob mentioned, and found this in the 22 May 1982 edition:

So - Rob was correct - but this was only published on the 22 May - almost halfway through the tour. This would tend to make you think that the cancellation must clearly have come very late in the day - and therefore, you have to assume BOC and Hatchet were already over there.

This would certainly chime with Sam's post above where he said he think the band actually flew over there, although I have recently received anecdotal reports that the tour was cancelled before the band left the States!! I hate this tour!!

It's like trying to document a will-o-the wisp - did they go or didn't they? If they did, did they play any dates prior to the cancellation or didn't they? Sam clearly seems to think they did, although he admits he wasn't certain which ones, but like I said, maybe he's mixed these dates up with a later tour...?

Furthermore - why would BOC cancel just because the other band on the bill had to pull out? Weren't BOC the "headliners" on this tour? They were listed first on the posters, tickets etc so that's always been my assumption.

Even if it was a co-headline type of deal, and let's assume Hatchet were massive in West Germany at the time (I don't know if they were or not), then even then, why would BOC cancel?

Less than 2 years earlier, when Sabbath pulled out of a few dates of the co-headline "Black'n'Blue" tour, BOC didn't cancel. The year before, they did a major tour with Rainbow (not co-headline, but Rainbow were big at the time), and Rainbow cancelled many dates on that run and BOC just played for longer...

I don't get it...

Anyway, I think my best course of action whilst documenting this particular tour would now seem to be to designate each of these gigs as a 'Cancelled' BOC gig unless I receive direct confirmation that it was definitely took place. I realise this is at odds with Sam Judd's recollections, but the evidence has now really stacked up that it didn't take place...

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

I'm looking for some feedback that would confirm or deny that this gig - as with most of the others on this tour - actually happened... please chip in if you have any info...

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

Was stationed in Wurzburg at the time and had tickets to the show when it was announced that MH had pulled out of the tour due to a illness within the band, and that the whole show was cancelled. And presumably the tour. Read it, I believe in Stars and Stripes. Something about a member in MH having a staph infection.

Very disappointed to say the least.

And to muddy the waters even more, I think the announcement was made before the bands left the states.

OK - thanks Tim... and yup, those waters are looking pretty murky...

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

This show was cancelled.

Damn - Stuttgart is the one gig Sam Judd remembers having taken place...

Can anyone else confirm that this show did not occur?

If I attended the show (and I think I did) it could only have been in Stuttgart. I would never drive to Rüsselsheim or Nürnberg. And definitely not to Munich. But forgive me... I'm not 100% postive.

Well, this is certainly mysterious - Helmut says decisively it was cancelled but I've got a couple of people who think it took place - and one of them is roadie Sam Judd!! - so I'm looking for further confirmation on this gig.

However, like I said above in the intro text above the start date of this "tour", it does look like the whole thing was kiboshed, so that's why this is currently designated as a "cancelled" gig, but if you can help with any info one way or the other, please click on the email link in the red box under the promoter info on the right...

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

The information that Alessandro Borri sent me indicated that the original venue scheduled for this date was the Messezentrum, an exhibition centre. However, I'm going with the info from the ticket and the poster for now, which indicate that the venue must have been changed to the Hemmerleinhalle.

However, I next have to consider whether or not the gig actually took place. I don't think it did - do you know?

Thanks to Rob Reich - see above - I now know that this gig was definitely cancelled.

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

This gig is unlikely to have occurred, but can anyone actually confirm that...?

• "Hot Rails to Rock'n'Roll" Tour

Can anyone confirm/deny that this gig didn't take place...? It probably didn't, but I'd like to get that confirmed if I could...

I recently rediscovered the music of BÖC, and it brought back some lovely memories of one of the best times in my life. I've been a fan from the time of the 'Spectres'-album onward through to the masterpiece 'Fire Of Unknown Origin' and the following 'ETL'-Live-album.

How happy I was when at the beginning of 1982 a BÖC-tour through Germany for some May dates was announced. I immediately went down to the ticket shop in my hometown of Karlsruhe and bought some tickets for me and my friends (there were a lot of BÖC-fans around) for the concert in Ludwigshafen in the Eberthalle.

I remember how happy I was to soon be able to see one of my favourite bands live on stage. The show was scheduled for May 1982 (I don't remember the exact date, but it was definitely in May).

Then at the end of April the announcement was made that the show in Ludwigshafen is cancelled. No official reason was given, but rumour had it that the lasershow of BÖC didn't pass the security check required by German authorities.

You can bet how disappointed me and my friends were. We got our tickets refunded and from the money I bought the newly released Queen (another favourite band for me at that time) record 'Hot Space'. Those were the days (I was nearly 20 years of age then).

So there definitely was a BÖC show scheduled in Ludwigshafen, Eberthalle in May 1982. My bet for the date would be May, 20th 1982, though I'm not sure. But the date seems to fit nicely into the rest of the German tour dates.

Thanks for that info, Stefan. By the way - I now know that the scheduled Ludwigshafen gig was supposed to have occurred on 26 May 1982...

Regarding the reasons for the cancellation - it can't have been anything to do with lasers because the last laser show was in May 1979.

The stated reason for the cancellation was actually the ill-health of Hatchet's Dave Hlubek, but like I've mentioned above, for that to force BOC to cancel, I just don't get it.

You say you think the announcement came at the end of April, which obviously means that the band wouldn't have travelled, and you're not the first person to highlight this, so I'm now forced to the conclusion that BOC did not in fact even leave the States in May 1982...

Of course, conspiracy theorists would point to the fact that one of the usual reasons for cancelled gigs is low ticket sales, so maybe the Hatchet health issues were "strategic"...?

As Toyah once stridently sang: "it's a mystery"...

• Soft White Underbelly gig

I only know about this gig thanks to this mention in the Fri 10 Jun 1982 issue of the Canarsie Courier:

• Soft White Underbelly gig

I only know about this gig thanks to this mention in the Friday 11 Jun 1982 issue of the Daily Record [Morristown NJ]:

• Soft White Underbelly gig

BOC [SWU show] - Hartford Stage West, Hartford CT June 1982 June 19th - was a club [large room about 3500 people]

Carl is correct. The venue was called Stage West at this point and it was located in West Hartford, CT. The name was changed to the Agora around 1984.

It was little more than a metal warehouse-type building in an industrial area. A co-worker saw this show and described as the loudest thing she had ever heard in her life.

Bands that I saw at the Stage West/Agora in this period included the Ramones on 9 or 10 occasions, the Plasmatics (twice), Squeeze (twice), and Motorhead - along with notable opening acts Shrapnel, The Fast, Helix, Helen Wheels, and Blotto.

The name of the venue changed again to West Hartford Exposition Hall around 1986 and soon afterward someone broke in at night and chainsawed the interior to pieces (bar, stages, seating, balcony, etc.)

The last time I passed the building it had reverted to some sort of industrial use.

Actually, I managed to discover that the venue was indeed called the Agora for this gig thanks to a review of the show on page 16 of the Monday 21 June 1982 issue of the "Hartford Courant":

Also, the 18 June issue of the Courant gave this listing:

So - if that listing is to be believed, "Equinox" was the support...

• Soft White Underbelly gig

I only know about this gig thanks to this mention in the Thu 10 Jun 1982 issue of the Canarsie Courier:

• Soft White Underbelly gig

I only knew of this gig initially as a result of seeing a gig review clipping on Joe Bouchard's Facebook page. However, it was also mentioned in the Thu 10 Jun 1982 issue of the Canarsie Courier:

• Soft White Underbelly gig

I only know about this gig thanks to a mention in the Thursday 17 Jun 1982 issue of the Canarsie Courier:

I was not/am not a huge BOC fan (though Don't fear the Reaper is a great song to this day), and It was 21 years ago when I was 14 so my memory is probably not up to the level of writing a review. It was a general admission show, and we were quite close to the stage.

My brother had the ETL tape, and as I recall the set list was mostly the same, including the cover of roadhouse blues which had some extended chat with the audience as an intro. Godzilla made quite an impression on me, because of the Godzilla head that emerged from the stage.

Hope this helps. In my memory they also did a fine version of veteran of the psychic wars, but I may be misremembering.

The main thing I remember is that, although i was very straight-laced, I was a big kid and wore an army green jacket. Before the show, several people approached me and asked if I was "holding." My brother had to explain to me what they meant, but this was the source of my teenage nickname "Gange" or "Gangie"

I assume you are familiar with the drive-by-truckers "let there be rock" which includes the lyric "dropped acid at a blue oyster cult concert/14 years old and I thought that them lasers were spiders chasing me." Great song.

Anyway, hope the ticket stub helps.

Alpine Valley, Troy WI with Aldo Nova...

The first show for me without Albert. At the time, we had only heard the rumors of him being gone...

1. Dominance
2. Dr. Music
3. ETI
4. Summer
5. HRTH
6. Joan
7. COF w/ RnR
8. Veteran
9. Reaper
10. Godzilla [weird hearing Reaper before Zilla]
11. BTBW
12. Encores: Burnin
13. Roadhouse

• Robbie Krieger guested

Journey - BOC - Triumph - Aldo Nova

BOC played at sunset and were excellent.

Set List:
Dr. Music
Hot Rails To Hell
This Ain't The Summer Of Love
Burnin' For You
Godzilla
Reaper
5 Guitars
Born To Be Wild
Roadhouse Blues (with Robbie Krieger)

A few nice photos which give an idea of just how big the crowd was that day can be found here:

• David Bannerman Concert Photos

It was quite a few years ago, but I believe that both Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger joined the band for Roadhouse Blues.

One heck of a rock-n-roll show and an intense fireworks show afterwards too.

I went to this concert. It was actually my very first rock concert.

If I recall correctly, they had some sort of problem and had to start really late.

I was at the July 16, 1982 show in Houston.

There was no warmup act and as I recall it was the very first concert in the newly established concert area at Astroworld.

I was already a huge cult fan. When I heard about this (I had just moved down from Maryland), I was in.

The previous poster mentioned a "problem" - yeah, there was a problem all right. Astrioworld was expecting about 12,000 people and 30,000 showed up! They were supposed to do 2 shows, the first at 8 and the second around 9:30. They decided to just do one show, started around 7 or so.

It was the very first "Summer Fun" concert at Astroworld, at that time, all they had was a big field of grass and a stage set up.

I sat down at the gates to the field, at about 11 AM, I think I was about the 7th person there! When they finally opened the gates, it was a mad dash all the way down the field to get your spot on the grass. We were in the front row. They did have a 10 ft. barricade set up, of course it did not last long once the show started. It was a long, hot and muggy Houston kinda day. But, I was totally re-energized when they took the stage.

The previous poster was right, there was no warm up band.

The barricade and the security guys lasted about 3 songs before we were pushed all the way up to the stage! The stage was about chest high on me and what a view! The barricade was flimsy like I said, so the guards could do nothing except get out of the way because we were being pushed from behind. So I started 10 feet from the stage and ended up pushed up against it!

When they played "Cities on Flame" The "flash bombs" went off and actually singed my hair and eyebrows - I was seeing blue for about 5 minutes! It was awesome! If memory serves me, they did 3 encores! They played all of my favorites - almost everything off the first 3 albums, Last Days of May and my favorite song of more than 40 years: Astronomy! Cagey Cretins, Before the Kiss, and of course, the "airplay" songs - Godzilla and Don't Fear the Reaper... One of the best concerts I have ever been to!

It was one hell of a show! Being in the front row, it took forever to get out of the field and across I-610 to the parking lot, it was like 2 in the morning before we drove out! Oh, but well worth it. One of the best concerts I have ever attended, and back then, I went to every concert I could.

Incidentally, my very first concert was Sept 30, 1979 - the day my father retired from the Air Force - I don't even need to look up the date. Richie Blackmore and Rainbow opened for them at the Baltimore Civic Center. I have seen them at least 25 times over the years, this show was one of the most memorable.

My best friend of 42 years, "Fuzzy" is coming down and we are going to see them at "The Redneck Country Club" in Stafford, TX on Oct 18 (2019). I am so stoked. For years, we would alternate, my going up to Maryland and Martin "Fuzzy" and some of our other high school buddies, coming down here to Houston, and we would do BOC and go fishing - gonna do a 24 hour tuna trip in the Gulf this time, but that is a story for later! (There are a couple more of my high school buddies who are maybes for coming down - we have all been huge cult fans for like 45 years!)

• Pacific Jam

This gig never happened. I was there, it was advertised as the Summer Strut and it was Foreigner, Loverboy, Scorpions, and Iron Maiden on the bill.

BOC played a week or two before at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (opening for Journey, with Triumph and Aldo Nova on the bill). I was at both shows.

I distinctly remember when the July 2 gig went on sale and the Anaheim gig went on sale. I was a senior in high school at the time. The July 2 gig went on sale first, and it was originally advertised as Journey with BOC. Triumph and Aldo Nova were added to the bill later.

The Anaheim gig went on sale the following week, and the bands listed in the original advertisement were Foreigner, Loverboy, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, and Huey Lewis and the News. This gig even had a name - The Summer Strut, is what the promoters were advertising it as.

My friends and I thought both gigs were must-sees for that summer as they were only a few weeks apart, so a bunch of us wound up going to both.

For a few years afterward, I had kept the original newspaper clippings advertising both shows (your site does have a scan of the announcement of the July 2 gig, which was one of the ads I kept - I later lost both ads during a move).

At some point, Huey Lewis was dropped from the Anaheim bill, and probably for good reason (we'd never heard of him at the time the tickets went on sale, but later that summer, well after that gig, he had a minor Top 40 hit with "Do You Believe in Love".

I noticed the T-shirts (above) listing BOC on all four sites. I never saw those shirts on sale at the Anaheim gig. It's possible they were printed and simply never offered for sale in Anaheim.

The shirts shown for the Rose Bowl gig are correct - I had one of them, with the Journey logo on the front with the Rose Bowl image on the front and then the back of the shirt showing all four bands. I wish I still had that shirt!

• Day on the Green #2

We didn't play either the Anaheim or the Oakland shows on this list... just FYI, Wiki has a great DOTG page listing all the shows and bands:

• Days on the Green

• Seattle's Summer Rock'n'Roll Grand Slam

Foreigner clearly headlined, but I don't actually know for sure the running order for the rest.

If you do, please let me know.

I was at this concert - a million years ago it seems.

Can't help you with set information or anything tangible - but I'll always remember one thing about this concert...

Opening act was Bryan Adams - as he is from Vancouver and sort of a local boy. This was before he was really famous. I remember that he was booed regularly during his set.

I remember his first videos on mtv and thinking "hey, this is the same guy I saw booed off the stage!"

Regarding the running order of the bands - the four bands you have listed were there and Foreigner was last. I don't remember the order of the other bands - but you have the right ones listed.

I was at this show, and the order was Bryan Adams, Joan Jett (wasted, she was horrible), Loverboy, Foreigner and then BOC.

BOC and Foreigner both had inflatibles, BOC of course had Godzilla and Foreigner had an exploding Juke Box. Great show...

I found a short review of this show online which also had BOC topping the bill:

But is it accurate?

Re. order of bands playing is incorrect... the order was Bryan Adams, Joan Jett, BOC, Loverboy, then Foreigner...

I was at this show. I do not remember anyone booing Bryan Adams, though I guess it's possible. He was unknown at the time but actually put on a very good performance, played the harmonica great, sang great, I don't remember one bad thing about his set.

Joan Jett was next, then BOC. At the end of BOC's set, nobody clapped... the whole place made the sign of the owl (aka the sign of the horns) and began hooting loudly at the band.

Just like it had been planned... but it was spontaneous and VERY cool! Still gives me chills to remember that. Eric stepped up to the mic and said "We hear you...and we WILL be back!".

I had forgotten all about Loverboy; I don't remember a thing about their set, or even that they were there (it's been a long time, sorry). When Foreigner took the stage, they looked ragged and old even then and there was nothing special at all about their presence or their show.

It was like watching old people deliver exact copies of what we heard on the radio. People began filing out not long after they started their set. BOC had blown the roof off the place and were really impossible for anyone to follow.

We left after 4 songs or so from Foreigner; I'd say about half the crowd beat us out the door. We listened to the rest of the show on the radio while driving home, it was being simulcast.

To clear up the order of appearance, it was Bryan Adams opening (he was a last-minute addition to the bill), Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Blue Oyster Cult, Loverboy, with Foreigner headlining.

I hardly remember anything about this show, but that was definitely the order of appearance. I musta been too stoned or my memory is getting really bad. I also went by myself, so there was nobody to share my memories of that show with, so they are lost forever.

I do remember one thing, though. After Loverboy's set, the big-screen kept showing a still frame of Loverboy's guitarist the cameras had captured flipping the bird. No idea why that stuck with me.

As one other has said, Foreigner was totally forgettable. I was severely disappointed with them. I was surprised by Loverboy and actually thought they did a decent job.

I think I sat on the far side of the Kingdome for the entire show, which probably didn't help any. The acoustics in that place were godawful.

Here's a post I found on this show in a Seattle reddit group:

• Oregon Jam '82

I've based the band running order on the order of precedence on the T-shirts, but - like with Seattle - I don't actually know for sure.

If you do, please let me know.

It was headlined by Heart. It was at Autzen stadium. I remember that it was my future wifes first BOC show. We bought a t-shirt and I will have to ask my wife and daughter where that particular shirt is.

Your lineup is correct. It was a hot day, they had the hoses out. Oregon still treated pot like a parking ticket. They had headshops on the greenbelt path to the stadium (saw the biggest bong for sale that I had ever seen in my life).

Taxxi had a short set (they did complete setups for each act so there was an overabundance of downtime).

Joan Jett came on and rocked. That was her breakout year and they put on a great show.

BOC was next... Solid as always. Highlights were Godzilla, Roadhouse, Black Blade, Reaper, etc. Great set. It was my third time seeing BOC.

Loverboy. Believe it or not, they were actually pretty good. A lot of fun.

Then came Foreigner as part of the Foreigner 4 tour (first non-rock album from the group). Other than Juke Box hero -- big inflatable jukebox, still makes me laugh--they weren't to good. Graham's voice was trashed and the sound was breaking up... horrible mix.

Otherwise, a great day. One of my favorite concerts ever. Tickets were $16-23 I think. I still have the stub somewhere.

I remember the 1982 Oregon Jam. I had just turned 16 earlier that month and three friends (16, 15, and 14, respectively) and I drove from Condon, Oregon, in my '77 Camero, a good five or six hour drive. We left Saturday, the 24th, and stayed the night in Oakridge, Oregon, with some friends we had been partying with a lot that summer. One friend's mother often bought us beer. We partied that night in Oakridge. Our friends mother warned us not to drive if we had been drinking because if we were caught by the police, they would fine us a $1000 dollars. We could hardly believe that as these were the days when most minors were given $57 dollar minor in possession tickets.

The next morning we drove to the Oregon Jam -- a big party. Autzen Stadium is a large stadium and it was packed. I remember using the restroom and it was really crowded. There was a drunk girl in the men's restroom standing at one of the urinals, giggling, and very drunk. It was a beautiful summer day--blues skies with big, puffy, white clouds. The vibe was great as this was still a time when you could have fun and not get into too much trouble.

The band line up you listed is correct. I don't remember too much about Taxxi. I had heard of them, but was not familiar with their music.

Joan Jett was very popular at this time, and we enjoyed her set a great deal. B.O.C. was great and was probably the band that I enjoyed the most that day. I remember one of the lead singers introducing the song Godzilla, saying something like, "Here he comes, the big fella, the lizard king, Godzilla!!" and pointing to the sky toward the back of the stadium as if Godzilla might appear.

Never did like Loverboy too much as their material was over-played on the radio during that period of time. They did put on a pretty good show as they got a noise competition going between the two halves of the stadium, and went back a forth a few times trying to get one side to be louder than the other.

By the time Foreigner came out, my group was pretty tired. It was a long day and a long weekend, and "Jukebox Hero" had been played so much that summer that we were pretty much sick of it. I sense we weren't the only one's who felt that way. I do remember the big inflatable jukebox that went up, without too much affect.

I appreciated seeing the Foreigner 4 concert shirt with the bands listed on it. I bought that shirt and wore it until it was so thread bare that you couldn't make out what was said on it anymore.

Overall, really, really fun, and a lot of great music. Almost seems like it was yesterday.

I was there - standing in the front of the stage.

A week or two earlier, my buddies and I drank beer with the 3 members of Taxxi at The Kingston in Portland, Oregon. Real cool guys. Fun to party with. Never heard of them though and when they said they were musicians and playing the Oregon Jam (which we had tickets to), we thought they were jacking us around. Then in the following days their music was being played on KGON in Portland, Oregon. Then, sure enough, they opened the Oregon Jam! Their short set was great. We owe them a beer!

Next up - Joan Jett was on. 100 plus degrees on the stadium floor and she was all decked out in leather. She was hot! Her and Taxxi were the best part of the concert for us - after that we had to seek some shade up in the stands. Yeah - the delays between acts were huge. B.O.C. was the highlight the rest of the way. Foreigner was very forgettable.

BOC brought a Harley on stage for "Born to Be Wild" that was very well done.

I knew nothing about Joan Jett before that day, but got to meet her and have a cold beer, on a very hot day. I bought all her albums the next week, and she is still my Favorite Rocking girl.

I forgot Heart was there, if they were, and since I saw them three other times I think I would remember it. I saw Heart open at the Medford Armoury for Trooper and BTO on there first tour, then saw them headline after that.

But this blog reminded me about Taxxi, who I never heard of before or since.

All in all the best concert I ever went to for a lot of reasons.

Oregon Jam '82 - don't remember Heart either... BOC and Joan Jett kicked Loverboy's ass, and Foreigner plain sucked. Something bad happened to the jukebox :-)

We got there the night before, so we were right at the front of the horde to get in. Pity the turnstiles were directly behind our gate so it couldn't open inwards. Damn near went through chainlink the hard way that day.

I was at this event. Dave M's reference to Heart headlining is actually a reference to the Oregon Jam one year earlier, 1981.

It was a crazy hot day, I remember. I don't remember Taxxi but others mention their set was short.

I had not see any of the bands on the program before that day. Joan Jet was great and I remain an avid fan. Same with BOC.

Loverboy was a surprise and I thought they were quite good.

It was a crazy long and very hot day and we only stayed a short while into Foreigner's set. We were beat and head for the car early.

Foreigner was only so-so, as I recall. Blue Oyster Cult and Joan Jett were memorable to me.

• Soft White Underbelly (2 Shows)

Regarding the reference on the shirt above - that was definitely most likely a Downey shirt as there were only a handfull of those made (I didn't even get one) it was a play on the old No Blow No Show shirts so popular in the 80's...

Whenever we did a gig for FM (Bill Graham) at Old Waldorf, Wolfgang's etc, the band insisted that the promotor rep whose name was Danny something or other, had to bring a GIANT bowl of Hunan Chinese Chicken salad (that he made) for the dressing room...

Shenck joked to the guys in the FM office about No Chicken Salad-No Show and it turned up on a shirt... those were really nice pull over shirts with collars as I remember...

The opener was a pseudo comedian named Dr. Gonzo:

• Dr. Gonzo on wiki

I don't know if this would be an "outdoor gig"; it's a covered (roof, no walls) amphitheatre with a corresponding lawn area, so it's "indoor/outdoor". :-)

Note you can see from the stub that Aldo Nova was the opener; I think that's missing from the listing...

As for memories, it's pretty hazy (I was in college, after all :-), but I do remember Eric riding the motorcycle out on stage, and I seem to remember the drummer sporting a Godzilla head during that song, with associated strobes.

The set list was much as on ETL, which I listened to heavily prior to the show. I remember wishing I could have seen them in the 70's, with a set list like on OYFOOYK, but was happy to catch them at all. We were just a couple of rows from the back of the pavilion.

I don't remember much of the show. I saw them at the House of Blues in A.C. in 2006 and that was only the second time I've seen them.

The meet and greet after the HoB show was brief but Bucky looked at the pic he signed and said that he wished he still had that guitar from '82.

I would love to find a copy of the '82 show, audio or video. Would you have any idea if one exists?

I'm indebted to Alwin Bastiaansen of stevemorse.com for sending me the following review...

I have memories of the Bader Field show in Atlantic City. There were 3 bands The Dixie Dreggs... go figure... Aldo Nova and BOC. The thing I remember most was the heat. It was a scorching summer day. People were getting restless and didn't really want to hear Aldo.

By the time BOC did their encore Burning for You, the crowd started to rip down the plywood barracade in front of the stage. Buck stopped singing and playing. Eric came on the mike and said something like, If you see the guy next to you being destructive, beat the crap out of him.

They never finished Burnin' for You.

I saw this show! I was 16 years old and a major BOC fan at the time. I don't remember the setlist specifically but I do remember that it was very much in line with ETL, which they were promoting at the time. The encore was an incredible Born to Be Wild, which has stuck with me all these years because some guy was up in front holding a bicycle over his head as they were playing the song, pumping the bike up and down to the beat.

BOC at the Boardwalk Hall in Asbury Park. A summer tradition. All I can say is who the fuck is that fag Bruce Spingsteen?

During one of the songs Rick Downey busted the drum set and they had to stop the show to fix it. Buck stood up front and I think he played the song "Pipeline". I'll ask my bud Jerry and see if that was the song but I think it was.

Aldo Nova was the warm up band at Asbury on Aug. 11th 82. Still have that playbill too.

Definitely the show where Downey busted 2 drum heads and Buck jammed on Pipeline. Aldo joined them on the encore. They played a really long show, about 2 1/2 hours.

Check out Moyssi's concert programme for this gig.

11/08/1982: Convention Hall, Asbury Park, N.J.

Support: Aldo Nova

Setlist:

1. Dominance and Submission
2. Summer Of Love
3. Dr. Music
4. ETI
5. Hot Rails To Hell
6. Cities On Flame
7. Joan Crawford
8. Veteran Of The Psychic Wars
9. Don't Fear The Reaper
10. Godzilla
11. Bass solo
12. Born To Be Wild
13. Encores: Burnin' For You
14. Roadhouse Blues

• Gig originally scheduled for Peninsula Stadium, Hampton VA

Here's a piece from the Sunday 25 July 1982 edition of the Daily Press [Newport News] showing the original intentions for this gig:

As it happened, the venue was moved (although not to the Hampton Coliseum as indicated above), but it wasn't because of "rain, or foul weather"...

Here's what the Daily Press said in the Wednesday 4 August 1982 issue:

This show happened. Kansas, BOC, Aldo Nova – it was my 1st concert.

I was there for this concert.

The order of bands that appeared was Aldo Nova - they opened with Fantasy.

Kansas was next.

BOC Headlined, they drove out on stage with a pair of choppers.

Was a rocking concert

It was the first concert I ever attended. Set list was pretty much the same as the ETL album, from what I can remember.

This was the show where "Zilla Dave" Thorpe's got hired.

Dave had come to shows before and hung out with the guy that did the guitars (Joe Lauro)... at that point our stage manager was dealing with Godzilla every day, so he was more than glad to hire Dave just to deal with the Zilla and generally lend a hand loading trucks and stuff...

Dave says he had nowhere to live, was carrying everything he owned in a shoulder bag and had a bus ticket to Sacremento Cal (his bro lived there) and 20 bucks in his pocket that day....

I was at this Blue Oyster Cult show. I had just turned 20 years old. There was no ticket stub. We were charged an entry fee at the gate and that let us in to the general admission concert.

Another killer BOC set. Opened with Stairway to the Stars. Aldo Nova warmed up as you can see by other shows in that time frame. The Cult also did Cities on Flame.

One highlight of the show, we were sitting just off to the right of the stage in the lower first level. Pretty good seats for general admission. Anyways, there was this kid in the 3rd row and he was holding up this wooden homemade BOC Kronos sign. It was a fairly big sign and the guy did a really good job making it. Well, in the front row, there was this other kid. To call him obnoxious would be an understatement. This kid was acting like a total ass, jumping from seat to seat, irritating people, etc.

Now, I'm probably a good 30 rows away from this kid and up a good 10 feet from the ground. This kid was not bothering me but I could tell he was really bugging MANY people. I could tell the crowd was tense. To put a happy ending on the whole ordeal, the kid in the 3rd row just couldn't take it any more. He stood up, took his homemade Cult sign, and crushed it down on the dude's head in the front row. The sign shattered everywhere!! The kid in the front knew he had been called out on the carpet, so to speak, and sheepishly just sat there the rest of the show, not moving from his seat!! Several thousand fans cheered and roared in approval as one fan was actually able to save the show for the rest of the audience! And the Cult jammed on through the episode!

I saw an indication on another site that Night Ranger may have played this show - even headlined. Any thoughts on this?

200% certain it was Aldo. And BOC headlined. It was just Aldo and BOC.

1982 was when Randy Rhoads, Ozzy's guitar player died. Brad Gillis from Night Ranger went to play with Ozzy. I saw that show too. Not sure if he returned to Night Ranger. Anyway, it was Aldo and Blue Oyster Cult for sure.

Arnoldrocks is absolutely correct. I was there; it was Aldo Nova opening for BOC. At the time, I thought it was quite a stark contrast.

I really liked Aldo Nova, but I thought of him as being somewhat straight-laced. From his lyrics, I thought he could pass for a Christian rock thing. By comparison, BOC was--well--a CULT thing; I was and still am huge BOC fan.

Now, much older, but no wiser, I see that Christianity started as a cult. :-)

I noticed this was not marked as an outdoor gig. I know for a fact that it was since I was there for that show. I grew up in Jackson, Michigan and have seen many shows at the fair.

The stage is set up in front of the grandstands of a horse racing track.

I remember this concert. From what I recall it was a very hot, sunny day. Aldo Nova was just okay.

I had lawn seats so we were pretty far from the stage. It was very crowded. The concert was great, I just wish we hadn't gotten the lawn seats. I still have the t-shirt. This was my first BOC concert. It's a great memory.

I was 15 at the time and very drunk and high. Most of the night was a blurr - even the next day - so I'll do my best to remember it.

Aldo Nova opened. He put on a really good show. The standard 45 minutes to an hour. Supporting his first record. I don't remember any of his songs but he played the popular ones of course.

Blue Oyster Cult. My favorite band! My first concert ever. Blossom is a pavillion venue with lawn seating. I don't know if it was sold out or not, but it had to be close to it. Tickets were $11.00. Our seats are in the 15th row. Allen's side of the stage.

My best friend (BÖC is his favorite also), my oldest brother and his girlfriend. I remember being in awe more than anything, kind of a dreamlike state. I still get that way most of the time I see them.

Opening song? I'm not 100% on this, but I believe it was Dominance & Submission. The setlist followed basically the ETL album which had come out a few months before. I know they played D&S, COF, Hot Rails, Reaper, ETI, Godzilla, Joan Crawford, Burnin', Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Roadhouse Blues. I'm almost positive they did Born to be Wild and Dr. Music. Summer of Love and the Red & the Black are other possibilities. I keep thinking of Black Blade also but I don't remember for sure and it probably wasn't played.

Veteran is the song that stands out in my mind. A couple people dressed in robes and looked like the Jawas from Star Wars came out and were playing extra drums and Buck shredded on the extended guitar jam.

Of course, this was back in the day and Godzilla was there tearing the place down. I really don't remember much more detail. Eric did have his Kronos guitar.

After the show, we were walking up the lawn to the exit when a 2 litre bottle of 7-up rolled down the hill and came right to me. I picked it up and opened it and smelled. It was full of some kind of alcohol. And it was completly full. We were a little cautious about drinking it, but we were quite lit by then. I remember my brother telling me to put it down and me saying fuck it and chugging a very large portion of the bottle. No one else wanted any.

It took about 10 minutes to get to the car. A Chevette, 2 door hatchback. (it's a really small car if you're not familiar with them). I get in the back passenger side. Brother's driving and his girlfriend is in front of me. We just start to go and I tell them I'm going to be sick. My brother stops but his girlfriend doesnt open up the door. I tell them again I'm going to be sick and she rolls down the window. It's near impossible to stick your head out of the window from the backseat in this car, so needless to say it went all over her instead. Oh well - I never liked her anyways!....

My first BOC show already is reviewed (above). I stumbled on your site while trying to figure out exactly when it had been. The official BOC site doesn't include it in their historical gig list, but I knew where it was (Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) and I knew who opened the show (Aldo Nova). I don't remember seeing the drunken 15-year-old who authored your other review, but then, there were a lot of drunken kinds riding around in Chevettes at the time. Here is what I do remember about it:

In early 1982, I'd just finished law school and quit a job working in chemical research. The Blossom box office was about 10 miles away and I was on a 'fitness kick', so I rode my 12-speed out to get tickets in mid May for the 16 August concert. My wife and I had pretty decent seats (within 10 rows of stage right, as I recall).

Aldo Nova opened and, contrary to my fellow concert goer's opinion, we thought he sucked. His histrionics while playing provided a stark counterpoint to Buck Dharma's neat, competent professionalism. Aldo had writhed all over the stage while trying to impress us but it was all for naught when he managed to pull out his guitar cord midway through a particularly passionate solo about which I remember nothing else except that he had to stop and meekly go back across the (silent) stage to plug it back in while the stunned crowd watched. What an embarrassment!

BOC, on the other hand,was the reason we were there and they did not disappoint. I was close enough to notice that Roeser had strategically placed sweat bands on his forearms just above where his neatly-rolled white shirtsleeves ended. That he thought enough of his craft to ward off the ill effects of a few drops of sweat said a lot. His playing said the rest. The closest comparison I can draw to his work is that of the late John Entwistle of The Who. Both simply stood there and blew you away with their playing.

As Roeser cleanly ripped off his leads and solos, I could see Aldo Nova standing in the wings at stage left watching and marveling at the virtuoso performance. I hoped he'd learn from it, but I doubt he did. I don't remember the setlist much except I enjoyed "Burnin' for You" a lot, as it was my then-current favorite. Of course there was Godzilla breathing smoke and flames and of course Bloom 'whomped' a Harley out on stage for effect to open - which song?

I certainly don't remember dragging my butt back out to the parking lot and waiting for the usual inordinate amount of time it always took to get the hell outta Blossom because I went there a lot. But I do know it was a killer show and one of the best I've ever seen.

My third B.O.C. show was at the Blossom Music Center on Aug. 16, 1982. Aldo Nova opened, and he played a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "Footstompin' Music".

This time I was there for B.O.C. and not someone else. They did not disappoint, it was a fantastic show!

I remember they played "Joan Crawford", it was the only time I have seen them play it live. The show wound up with "Burnin' For You" / "E.T.I." / "Godzilla" / and "Don't Fear The Reaper".

We all thought that was the end, but then Eric Bloom came riding out from around back of the pavilion on a big ass Harley! He drove it through the crowd, and up a ramp they had set up onto the stage, while Buck started the intro to "Born To Be Wild". It was a very cool end to an excellent concert- probably the best I have ever seen them play. A memorable night.

BOC played in Victoria, BC on Saturday, August 21, 1982 at the Victoria Memorial Arena. Aldo Nova was the opening act.

The show was awesome. It was general seating so I waited outside for hours so I could get right up front in front of Buck.

I saw a show in Vancouver BC at the Coliseum in the summer of 1982 and was surprised not to see the date mentioned in your gig lists. I had the impression that it was in August but after looking at the published schedule, it might have been July.

The opening act was Billy Squier and I remember that my girlfriend and I were looking forward to seeing him too. That changed in a hurry though... when he came out for his second encore, I remember saying "Who the fuck does he think he is? He's not even any good!".

I guess the crowd was with us on that because when he came out for a third encore, the place erupted in boos and then everyone was chanting "BOC, BOC, BOC".

In hindsight, poor Billy was probably drafted to stall the crowd while something got worked on for BOC (like some finicky laser equipment maybe).

I remember Eric riding his motorcycle on stage and a huge Godzilla (I swear I saw a guy with a fire extinguisher shooting out the mouth every time it opened)

Anyway, the show did happen in Vancouver, BC summer of 1982... just surprised to not to see the date listed.

We never did a show with Billy Squire that I can remember - doesn't mean it didn't happen though... if he was 3rd on the bill, I might never have even known he was on the bill...

If this thing happened, it was in Aug between 16 and 24 and the opener would have been Aldo Nova... it's very likely it did happen during that time as there are big holes in the gigs we know about...

It was absolutely in Vancouver BC because my girlfriend had to drive up from Seattle to see it. I remember that distinctly because my mom was rather upset to find out that Cheryl was coming up and would be staying overnight at my place (if only her fears about unmarried carnal knowledge were valid... she didn't realize that Cheryl was going to bail on me after getting to see the concert).

It was definitely the summer of 1982 because that was the summer I was working in Vancouver, BC but living just over the border in Point Roberts, WA trying to establish my Washington state residency so that I could pay state resident university tuition rates. I had thought that it was August but it could easily have been July... it was definitely July or August of 1982.

I'm *pretty* sure that it was Billy Squier and not Aldo Nova. At the time I was somewhat enamored with Squier's song "Everybody Wants You" which was something of a big radio pop hit at the time. As a starving student who did not own a stereo, I was not buying many albums, but one that I have from 1982 is Squier's "Emotions in Motion" LP. I could swear that Cheryl and I were thinking "BONUS!...Billy Squier is opening!".

At the same time my hard rock buddies at work that were going to the concert were lamenting that Squier was a bit of a poser to be on the same bill as BOC... I don't think they would have been so pissy about Aldo Nova.

Also, Squier was not a third billing, he was the only opening act as I recall, but he came out for 3 encores. The crowd was a bit miffed with the second encore and downright angry about the 3rd encore... we all wanted to see BOC! Something must have been up because opening acts never come out for encores. I'm thinking they must have been drafted to get back out on stage and keep the crowd entertained until BOC was ready to hit the stage.

I don't think his info's accurate. I was playing with Queen in August 82. We did play Vancouver, but BOC wasn't on the bill. As for doing three encores, while quite flattering, I don't know of any headliner who'd let a support act get away with that... even if I deserved it

:-)

Visit Billy's Site...

Well, looks like it wasn't Billy Squier!! Maybe it was like Sam said - perhaps it was Aldo Nova, after all...

Aldo Nova did not perform at this show. Since he was advertised as part of the bill with B.O.C. we were all offered the choice of a refund at the door.

The Canadian band Streetheart was the replacement opening act.

I also don't remember any extra encores for Streetheart or equipment problems for BOC. That doesn't mean it didn't happen. It's just that I saw so many concerts back in the early '80s.

The poor support act comments above also surprise me. Streetheart were at the top of their fame in 1982 with their platinum selling self-titled album coming out that year. They certainly weren't in B.O.C.'s league but they were selling out their own headlining shows back then.

I've also seen an entry on a blog page listing people's various individual concert memories which said this:

22 Aug 2012 Update: Steve Newton has just re-posted a copy of his Aug 82 Georgia Straight review of this gig on his "Ear of Newt" blog, and at the end he added this: "hopefully my exhumation of this wee review will help dispel those crazy rumours on the Hot Rails to Hull website that it was actually Streetheart--and not Aldo Nova--who opened the show"...

Well, a mere glance down the posts under this gig entry will indicate just how confusing the issue of who supported BOC at the Pac Col seems to have become.

However, after having now seen the contemporaneous newspaper review of the show (reposted below), then I think it's now safe to say that the answer to that famous, metaphysical question "Where's Aldo?" is a resounding - on 22 August 1982, at least - Vancouver...

Aldo Nova opened. B.O.C. was smokin that night. I remember Eric riding a Harley on stage for their rendition of "Born to be Wild"...

Last saw BOC Aug. 24th in Boise, ID. At the BSU Pavilion. If I recall they dropped a large probably Harley from the up rigging, fired it up and went into a song.

Saw three Blue Oyster Cult shows in my life (so far) '73, '77 and '82. Those were some fun years and BOC delivered at all three concerts.

I previously only knew of the existence of this gig because Pollstar published the above figures for it...

Then I found the following report in the Fri 27 Aug 1982 edition of the "The Montana Standard":

It should be noted, Pollstar's official ticket sales figures does not tally with the sales quoted in the piece above.

Aldo Nova did not play at this show. Someone announced before the concert started that Aldo Nova would not be performing tonight, and also said BOC would play a longer set.

A couple of friends and I attended the August 26th, 1982 BOC show in Casper, Wyoming. We made the trip from Laramie (about 3 hours SE of Casper), arriving at the venue in the mid afternoon - early enough to be at the head of the stampede when the doors eventually opened an hour or so before showtime. We claimed our space right up against the barrier in front of center stage, the band only a few feet away.

Aldo Nova cancelled and I do seem to recall an announcement that BOC would play an extra long show. There was an opening act - some local up-and-comers - but their name has long ago slipped my memory. They weren't too impressive, sort of a really loud and barely competent garage band.

BOC's setlist was very similar to Extraterrestrial Live, although I failed to note down the exact list at the time. During "Hot Rails to Hell" we were all struck by how cooly confident and assured Buck Dharma seemed. A master of his domain. We were all very familiar with all their tunes at that time. Buck's "Veterans" solo from ETL was ingrained in our minds and ears - and his performance of that tune that night did not disappoint!

I also seem to recall Eric riding on stage at some point on a motorcycle, and during "Godzilla" the giant lizard head made it's appearance.

Near the end of the show, at a climactic moment of one particular tune (possibly "E.T.I."), we all thought we'd simultaneously passed out, but in actual fact there was an incredibly bright flash of white light from the front of the stage that made us instinctively close our eyes and snap our heads to one side. When we 'came to', the smoke machines were going and the band looked ever so pleased. I've always wished I could see that phenomenon from the band's vantage point! Prior to the show, an artist friend of ours had made 2 or 3 latex oysters, one of which he tossed up on stage (with a doobie sticking out from inside). Allen Lanier saw it, picked it up, looked it over quizzically, and kept it!

It was an incredible show. My only regret was that Al Bouchard was not there. (Luckily, I got to see the original lineup the year before, on August 7, 1981, in Seattle.)

I saw Blue Oyster Cult on Saturday, August 28, 1982 (8pm) at the Lethbridge Sportsplex in Lethbridge, Alberta. It was a great show, I remember thinking it was the loudest concert I'd ever been at.

"Burning For You" and "Don't Fear The Reaper" stand out as sounding very good and the huge Godzilla during that song at the end. I remember the attendance being around 3000.

Aldo Nova was supposed to open, but we heard he was sick and a local band called U Paris opened instead (I knew the drummer Craig Baceda). Great site!

I saw the Lethbridge, AB Canada show. Standouts being burning for you and Eric's spiel before playing Godzilla. I remember loving that show, and U-Paris rocked too.

Great BOC site! The gig promoter for the Lethbridge 1982 show was a company called Gold and Gold Productions.

B.O.C. with Aldo Nova on August 30, 1982 at Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: this is a "missing gig" - I have a ticket stub to prove it. I will get around to scanning my tickets one of these days. Will e-mail you with it when I do.

Memories a bit fuzzy, for obvious reasons. The only clear memory is that a buddy and I attended at the last minute and the only tickets left were the last row of the Coliseum (seats about 14,000 for concerts). Must have been a near sell-out.

Great website you have by the way (so thank-you). If only more of the classic bands had such a site, it would make finding old setlists much easier.

I only know of this gig thanks to Heiko Klages who sent me a clipping of a review of this show from the Calgary Herald.

There's one show missed out in your database from Winnipeg, Canada, 1982 ETL Tour. I saw that show at the Winnipeg Arena, with Aldo Nova opening.

All I remember from that show was that it was LOUD. Probably one of the loudest concerts I've been to.

My confirmation for this gig date comes courtesy of Bert Gangl who sent me a scan of a review of this show from the Winnipeg Free Press (Sept 4th).

• Dakota Jam '82

Sept 4 1982 Red River Valley Fairgrounds, Fargo, North Dakota. - Outdoors - Saturday 2:00 PM. Blue Oyster Cult and Aldo Nova.

Lamont Cranston Band opened - they were one of the better Minneapolis bands at the time... they still might be playing in the Twin Cities.

Late afternoon outdoor gig - weather hot and so was the show. BOC had their giant Godzilla with them (not the video but a tall plaster of paris or paper mache or?) hovering behind/right of the stage.

When Downey finished his drum solo during the song "Godzilla" he would throw his drumsticks to bounce off the monster which was a pretty long throw. This time the drumstick stuck in one of Godzilla's nostrils and the crowd went wild.

This is another foggy one as we saw Rush here in La Crosse the night before.

Aldo Nova opened... venue was like a highschool gym of old... classic... but the sound was awful. Me, Terry, Dewey, Yo-Yo and Kootch

Again, standard setlist of the day (not a record from this show):

Dominance & Submission
Dr Music
ETI
Summer of Love
Hot Rails To Hell
Joan Crawford
Cities On Flame
Veteran of Psychic Wars
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Godzilla
Born to be Wild
Burnin' For You
Roadhouse Blues

Blue Oyster Cult & Aldo Nova on September 10, 1982 at the Verdun Auditorium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This WAS one of the missing shows in the list here but not anymore !!!

I remember having known B.O.C. because they receive a lot of airplay from Montreal radio station CHOM FM, the movie "Heavy Metal" as well as the famous Black N' Blue show with Black Sabbath.

It was my first show at Verdun Auditorium and it was a general admission full capacity of about 5000. Ended up being on the orchestra floor for this show which was pretty cool seeing all the show straight ahead. Aldo Nova opened up and was well received his song "Fantasy" was the hightlite.

Blue Oyster Cult themselves were really hot that night and the songs that stood out for me was Godzilla, Don't Fear the Reaper and Born to be wild.

I was there and I have a cassette bootleg of this show. Eric addresses the crowd in French during Dr. Music...

I can confirm that BOC played the Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on September 13, 1982. The setlist was exactly the same as the Montreal gig on Sep 10.

Aldo Nova opened the show. It was a great show.

I had just moved here a few days previous and this was my first concert as a resident of Ottawa.

Wow, what an exceptional web-site. I went to see BOC at the North Maine Forum in Presque Isle, Wed. Sept. 15, 1982. Me and some friends drove down "the lonely State of Maine" from Saint John, NB, Canada after we saw an ad for the concert on TV.

My sister had made me a stuffed "Cultasaurus Erectus", about two feet in length. I named him "Bock" and brought him along for the trip. I couldn't believe it when security let me through the door with "Bock". Yes, Aldo Nova, a fellow Canadian, was the opening act, and was well... an opening act.

BOC came on and were great. Like previous posts, it was pretty much the "ETL" set, Eric on a Harley, and the giant Godzilla. Interesting to note the person who said that Downey's drum-stick got stuck in Godzilla's nostril less than two weeks before in Fargo, North Dakota, because the same thing happened during this show!

Towards the end, when Buck and Eric were crossing their guitars over each other, the stage lights flashed right on my mini-Cultasaurus, and the two had a big laugh about it! As we walked out of the arena "I Love the Night" was playing over the PA System... fitting.

September 16th, 1982, Bangor Municipal Auditorium, Maine. BOC was the headliner; Aldo Nova was the opener. I was in attendance.

This was my very first concert. All seats were general admission. We kept working our way forward and made it almost to the front.

I caught a broken drumstick tossed into the crowd by Rick Downey (I gave it to the friend who invited me to the concert).

The opener was Aldo Nova - I'm 100% positive...

Setlist:

1. Intro
2. Dominance & Submission
3. Dr Music
4. ETI
5. Summer of Love
6. Hot Rails To Hell
7. Eric Intro to Joan
8. Joan Crawford
9. Cities On Flame
10. Veteran of Psychic Wars
11. (Don't Fear) The Reaper
12. Godzilla
13. Drum Solo
14. Godzilla (reprise)
15. Bass Solo with The Red and the Black / The Beatles She's a Woman / Pink Floyd's Money / I'm A Man
16. Born To Be Wild
17. Burnin' For You
18. Roadhouse Blues

Sep. 20, 1982. Blue Oyster Cult, Roanoke, Virginia. I have a partial ticket plus a xerox of the full ticket. Again, it was at Roanoke Civic Center. I used to write down all of these shows in a notebook. If I can find it, it'll list the opening act, too.

Great show in the smaller Roanoke Auditorium. They'd played to a near sellout in Roanoke almost exactly a year before.

This was a midweek show that looked like it got added to the tour mid-tour, to the point that Aldo Nova was replaced by a local band as the opener.

The road from the airport takes you straight to the auditorium so we passed the bands limo on the way to the show, and had a brief debate in the truck on the cost/benefit analysis of having a fender bender with the limo and meeting the band. Cooler heads prevailed.

Opened with an arena-destroying version of Dominance and Submission.

This was the first time I ever saw the mighty BÖC. I've seen them many, many times since, they are perhaps the "classic metal" band I've seen more than any other. They've played the Albany area on a very frequent basis. I love BÖC and still listen to their stuff all the time. All hail Blue Öyster Cult.

The opening band was Aldo Nova, an early 80s, spandex-clad one-hit wonder who made little impression. He did get a big cheer during his MTV hit "Fantasy".

The place was pretty packed and the show was excellent. I remember they brought some roadies dressed as hooded monks for "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" and Eric Bloom rode a motorcycle out in Rob Halford fashion before "Born To Be Wild".

I seem to remember a long bass solo at some point too, which I've never seen at a BÖC show since. I remember buying a jersey concert shirt at this with the first album cover on the front and the BÖC symbol on the back, which I wore constantly as a kid for a few years.

1. Dominance & Submission
2. Dr Music
3. ETI
4. This Ain't The Summer of Love
5. Hot Rails To Hell
6. Joan Crawford
7. Cities On Flame
8. Veteran of Psychic Wars
9. (Don't Fear) The Reaper
10. Godzilla
11. Born To Be Wild
12. Burnin' For You
13. Roadhouse Blues

• This gig was recorded for broadcast on "The Source"
• The date is sometimes wrongly given as 12 August 1982

Yes, the Centrum date was 24 September 1982 - I even had to correct the fanclub president on this one (I think the problem was that it was part of a radio broadcast, and after the fact they may have put the wrong date on the broadcast info sheet).

Here's the setlist that I've had on my computer for years:

B L U E O Y S T E R C U L T
Worcester Centrum
Worcester, Massachusetts
September 24, 1982

The songs (in order performed):
Dominance and Submission
Dr. Music
E.T.I.
(jamming -- "Pipeline")
This Ain't The Summer of Love
Joan Crawford
Hot Rails to Hell
Cities on Flame
Veteran of the Psychic Wars
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Godzilla (with drum solo)
(bass solo)
Born To Be Wild
-- encores --
Burnin' For You
Roadhouse Blues (few bars of Love Me Two Times)

Note: Most of the concert was part of a radio broadcast. The broadcast was of all of the songs from "This Ain't The Summer of Love" to "Burnin' For You". The jamming after "E.T.I." was done to kill time until the radio broadcast was ready.

Lineup: Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, Joe Bouchard, Allen Lanier, Rick Downey

It was 1982 - I'd been a fan for about 2 years, but had never seen the band live. In September, the band does a show at the Worcester Centrum - I'm a freshman in college in Boston at the time, and my brother is a high school junior back home in western Mass. (so Worcester is about mid-way between us).

I secretly buy 2 tickets before going to college - and p*ssing off my mom when she later finds out (I didn't go to many concerts in high school). Since BOC is playing on Friday night, we all meet in Worcester that night and stay over at a hotel nearby.

Aldo Nova is the opener - too damn loud with all those piercing high leads he does on his guitar (not just his song "Fantasy", which was a hit at that time). BOC rocks the place - with all the cool stuff they did back then (giant Godzilla, Eric's bike, extra drummers on "Veteran's of the Psychic Wars" dressed up as monks, Joe's bass solo, Downey's drum solo, and the definitive version of "Roadhouse Blues").

So, after the show, my brother and I are hanging out at the hotel, playing video games. My bro' spots who he believes to be Rick Downey. A few minutes later, Joe Bouchard strolls by, sees us in our new BOC t-shirts, and smiles.

So now we're pretty excited as we figure the band is staying at the same hotel, so we're staking out the place trying to catch a glimpse of the rest of the band. A few minutes later we catch sight of Allen.

Then (and this is true, I swear), I go into the men's room and who is standing at the adjacent urinal but Buck Dharma! My first thought - "Wow, he really IS short!" My second thought - "Don't piss on the guy!" And while I managed to not do so, I didn't manage to say anything to him.

After that, my brother and I are in search of Eric. We finally see him coming in last - seemed like he was trying to avoid people and slip in quietly (which I assume they all were, since they came in individually), but my brother screwed up enough courage to ask (and get) his autograph.

A little later on, we saw Eric in the game room watching some guy play "Space Invaders" (remember that?) - I only wish that I had challenged Eric to a game...

Your site was missing this gig at Toronto's C.N.E. Coliseum (Canadien National Exibition) Sept 27 1982. No opener recalled, though...

My brother and I (BOC fanatics) dragged a bunch of friends to this show. They had no idea who BOC were, but by the end of the night they were big fans.

Very solid show. We had third row seats right in front of the stage. Buck Dharma threw his guitar pick out to the audience and I caught it! Very cool white pick with the BOC logo on it.

Fantastic!

Interesting how Potsdam University can't spell "Potsdam" or "Maxcy" correctly on their concert tickets... anyway, I found a preview for this gig in the 22 Sep 1982 edition of the "Tribune-Press", and they also seemed a bit unsure about "Maxcy":

In the fall of 1978 I attended Clarkson University. It didn't work out. I was down. I turned to music and discovered Blue Oyster Cult. Much to my suprise I found members of my new favorite band attended the same college. I figured if they turned out OK I could also. I learned to play guitar, it was and is a major part of my life. I turned out OK.

I returned to college and am sucessful. I want to thank Buck for helping me through that time even though he didn't know he was helping. When I returned to college I saw BOC at Maxey Ice Arena in Potsdam State College. Great Show. I don't recall the name of the opening act. They weren't very good and they were a cover band probably local. Well, to be fair, their sound wasn't very good so it was hard to tell if they were any good or not. BOC was awsome though.

My mom took me to this show for my 12th birthday. This was my first "real" concert and the crowd was chanting "BOC" as we filtered into the entryway.

The opening band was Fresh, from Syracuse. All I remember about them was a cover of "Penthouse and Pavement."

BOC opened with D&S featuring a startling opening drum salvo by Rick Downey. As far as details of the setlist I can't recall exactly but the Godzilla figure was there.

It pretty much followed the ET Live LP. I remember the mirror-effect from the guitarists, Downey's solo, and Joe's sweaty bass solo. He seemed to be enjoying himself that nite.

We left with ringing ears and big smiles. My best birthday gift to this day I'd say!

What happened in October? If you know, please let me ...

What happened in November? If you know, please let me ...

According to fan reports, the Pat Travers benefit show at the Baltimore Civic Center was held in December of 1982. This is verified by dated live recordings of Travers' benefit performance and the Dec 10, 1982, issue of the Baltimore Sun newspaper, both of which list the concert date as Dec 09, 1982.

Given the language in the post by Midnightson, I wonder if BOC played a full set after Travers, or if Buck, only, sat in for a single song with Pat as an encore to Travers' set.

Either way, it sounds like a great evening of rock and roll for a worthy cause.

I managed to come across a couple of reports on this event from the Baltimore Sun - the first was from 10 Dec 1982:

The second report in the Baltimore Sun was from 11 Dec 1982:

So, after reading those reports, I think it's possible to discount any actual BOC involvement in this benefit - it looks like it was just Buck guesting on Pat's encore, after all...

WTF is the Hub Entertainment Center Hempstead NY??... is that supposed to be the Nassau County Coliseum??... sure don't remember ever playing there 3 nights... sounds like a pipe dream to me... you got any tickets from that??

Nope - in light of that, I have to wonder if these next three gigs took place?

What is the "Hub", anyway?
PS It's listed as such on the official site...

I noticed confusion for some shows listed as Hub Entertainment Center in Hempstead NY.

I saw BOC during Fire of Unknown Origin Tour, in Binghamton, NY. Maybe this is the venue because I don't see that show listed.

Sorry I can't be more specific it was a long time ago. I believe they played this venue a few times.

They played Binghamton Veterans Memorial on 28 Dec 1981, which would have been part of the "Fire of Unknown Origin" Tour.

I've now got a bit more info on these shows now thanks to the above advert which appeared on eBay in Jan 2012. It names the venue as the "Calderone Concert Hall" and thankfully, it also gives the venue an alternative nomenclature, namely the "Hub Entertainment Center"...

The only thing to find out now is did they actually take place?

If those gigs occurred, they did so without me... wouldn't have been unusual in those days at all... they could replace me anytime Rush wasn't out with Tony Geranios.. but I usually DO have a memory of shows happening, even if I wasn't involved..

Eventually Allen put his foot down and told the rest of the band that he didn't want to hear about any more shows I wasn't going to be doing... remember I was the ONLY one who got left at home.. Ricky Reyer was ALWAYS brought to these shows...

Calderone Concert Hall was a semi-legendary venue on Long Island. Hub Entertainment Center was a briefly used (failed) name for the place. Had to do with the proximity of the theater to the bus and train terminals, hence the "Hub".

The Calderone held about 2,500 people. I saw numerous shows there, Cheap Trick, Rainbow, Motorhead, Aerosmith, etc. Unfortunately I didn't see these BOC shows.